The Real Vampire in Shadow of a Vampire Essay

In the title, Shadow of a Vampire, you already see foreshadow for what the movie will be about; vampires and shadows come to mind and the movie do focus on those aspects, but what comes to mind for me, is a new kind of monster, a monster described as just a “shadow of a Vampire”. In this movie, you are not only introduced to a Vampire, whom later on you have feelings similar to pity for him, you are also introduced to this man, just a human man, who wants to make a film all about Nosferatu. But with this man, you do not sympathize or have any feelings for him. In the original works of Dracula and Nosferatu, it was always the vampire who was the villain, but in this movie, it was actually the director that had more monster-like qualities. We even see a whole scene of him in a cabaret club in the very beginning to wisp away any open-mindness we have for all characters. It also sets the mood, which is that for an environment which can shadow any “vampire” and also for the time period of the movie. The theme of drugs is displayed also, with the cat in the beginning, and the lady in the end, both alike in the way that drugs were used to make both docile by the same person, the director, Murnau. The man is seen as the real monster, although not in the very beginning, but you can start to see some foreshadowing hints already, because he does not see people as people, and only as tools to get what he wants and that is just as bad as a vampire who sees people as food, and ways of getting blood to survive off of, except Murnau does not need, technically, “film” to survive, but it is what he wants. He needs people for their skill, and for no other attachment. When a person walks in on his shot for an emergency, he yells how a “native” just walked in. Like he is a vampire calling her a human. When Nosferatu attacks his screen writer, the director does not care that the man is dying; only that he has to find another one. He even bargains the life of the girl, Greta, to